by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 27, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
BFN (Before FirstNet) and before Next-Generation 9-1-1 (NG911), the public-safety communications world was fairly organized. A few companies offered complete systems consisting of base stations, mobiles and portables, and radio consoles. Along with their approved suppliers, they could provide antennas, coax cable, towers, generators, and other elements needed to ensure their systems were built and operated as promised.
Other vendors could and did bid on pieces and parts of systems, and many were successful in convincing some public-safety agencies to break out mobiles, portables, and sometimes base stations from system-level bids. Some Land Mobile Radio (LMR) vendors added features and functions over and above what was included in, for example, P25 standards, so competitors could not meet the same specifications with their products. Thus in the early days, the LMR vendor world was divided into system suppliers and device suppliers…
by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 25, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The future of public safety communications is inextricably linked to LTE and cellular technologies, according to Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association — and those who keep asking, “When will Land Mobile Radio die?” are focused on the wrong question.
“People are always asking me, when will LMR die? Frankly, I think it’s an irrelevant question. I think it’s the wrong question,” Johnson said in an address at this week’s IWCE Virtual event. “I think the right question is, how will LTE change the current landscape for public safety responders? And to me, there’s no magic here. It is about coverage, it’s about backhaul, it’s about reliability, it’s about devices, it’s about security and it’s about functionality and feature sets — of all those combined things. And the fact is, all can be achieved through LTE…
by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 25, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
NPSTC committees and working groups have been busy all year discussing a variety of important topics that impact first responders and communications interoperability. Volunteer groups of subject matter experts have continued this work even as COVID-19 has shifted public safety agency priorities to deal with the pandemic. This month, NPSTC announces the publication of three new reports that deal with issues of importance to all public safety agencies. These reports assess the status of consoles that support Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT), the future state of public safety broadband for EMS and communications centers, and a comprehensive overview of Public Safety IoT issues and considerations. NPSTC is also announcing an update to the COVID-19 Operations Checklist designed for public safety agencies and communications centers…
by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 21, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
By Tip Osterthaler, FirstNet Authority Board Chair
I am honored to have been appointed chair of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) Board. As I take the helm of the Board today, I am eager to continue to drive progress for all of public safety.
I first became involved with the FirstNet Authority in 2018, joining the Board just one year after the public-private partnership with AT&T was formed. Since then, I have had the opportunity to watch the network come to life with extensive buildout and widespread adoption among public safety. As the Finance Committee Chair, I was involved in shaping some of our most important activities of the last two years – including disciplined budgets that fund our organization and guide the future of the network. The Committee also had a key role in developing the FirstNet Authority Roadmap and the first set of network investments. READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Aug 21, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently launched a webpage to promote the rebranded Tribal Emergency Communications Program, which supports direct consultation to tribes and Alaska Native communities to strengthen public safety communications. CISA assists tribes with public safety operable and interoperable communications through advocacy and consultative…
by ECC Editor | Aug 20, 2020 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications (CSEC) adopted AT&T ESInet as its NextGen9-1-1 platform to transition 17 Regional Planning Commission (RPC) public safety answering points (PSAPs) to NG9-1-1. The first nine counties, which are part of the Nortex RPC, recently went live with AT&T ESInet serving nearly 80,000 Texans with a more reliable and improved 9-1-1 experience.
AT&T ESInet is built on AT&T’s IP network. The IP-based call routing service uses i3 standards from the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) to modernize legacy 9-1-1 infrastructure… READ MORE
